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First NH90 for Greek Air Force Flies (Jul 15)
MARIGNANE, France --- This is at the Eurocopter Marignane facility that the first Hellenic serial production NH90 successfully took to the air today for a 95 minutes flight. The aircraft was flown by Boniface Jean-Pierre ROLDAN, experimental test pilot, Dominique FOURNIER, flight test engineer and Jean-Claude Rabany flight engineer.
This is the sixth serial production NH90 leaving the ground, following NH90s for Germany, Finland, Italy and Sweden.
On 29 August 2003, Greece ordered 20 NH90 firm for a contract total amount of EUR 657 million, including a consistent offset agreement involving Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI).
Hellenic NH90s will be operated by the Army, 16 NH90 Tactical Transport in service with the Army Aviation and 4 NH90 with the Special Operation Forces (SOF); both configurations being equipped with Rolls-Royce Turbomeca RTM322-01/9 engines.
Also to be noted is that all NH90 can be converted into Medevac variant thanks to 4 ordered roll change medical kits. 14 optional NH90 are also to be taken into account, concerning up to 12 Tactical Transport and 2 Special Operation variants.
In addition to the famous acknowledge outstanding features common to both Standard Cabin and High Cabin Version of the NH90 (full Fly-By-Wire flight control system, full composite crashworthy airframe, full aircraft/avionics/mission system integration …), the Hellenic NH90 introduces to the world a state-of-the-art Special Operation capability to support any current combat-experienced military scenario.
The first NH90 Tactical Transport will be delivered to Greece by late 2005 and the whole firm series will be completed within the year 2010 (including options).
Today, full-scale production is rapidly proceeding with more than 40 NH90 on assembly line in France, Germany, Italy and Finland while the current NH90 logbook shows a total of 357 firm orders, 86 options and more than 45 selected NH90, by 13 countries and for 17 Armed Forces.
Eurocopter is a wholly-owned subsidiary of EADS. EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2004, EADS generated revenues of EUR 31.8 billion and employed a workforce of about 110,000. The EADS Group includes the aircraft manufacturer Airbus, the world's largest helicopter supplier Eurocopter and the joint venture MBDA, the international leader in missile systems. EADS is the major partner in the Eurofighter consortium, is the prime contractor for the Ariane launcher, develops the A400M military transport aircraft and is the largest industrial partner for the European satellite navigation system Galileo.
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The First Hellenic Serial Production NH 90 Flies at the Eurocopter Marignane Facility